Best New Albums of 2017 *

Very late entry in my favourite albums of the year...
Seamus Fogarty 'The Curious Hand' on domino.

This one will live with me for a while

 

1.Walk the Earth - EUROPE
2.To the Bone - STEVEN WILSON
3.Emperor of Sand - MASTODON
4.Villains - QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
5.Dialectic of Ignorance - PONTIAK
6.Paranormal - ALICE COOPER
7.Barefoot in the head - CHRIS ROBINSON BROTHERHOOD
8.Koyo - KOYO
9.Visuals - MEW
10.Carry Fire - ROBERT PLANT

 

A few additional new releases I enjoyed were:
Kamasi Washington “Harmony of Difference”
Richard Dawson “Peasant”
Hype Williams “Rainbow Edition”

...and forgot to add these "archive" releases too:
The Rolling Stones “Their Satanic Majesties Request (50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)”
The Doors “The Singles (Remastered)”

Happy 2018 everyone

 

My top 20:
1. The War On Drugs - A Deeper Understanding
2. U2 - Songs of Experience
3. Father John Misty - Pure Comedy
4. Grandaddy - Last Place
5. The National - Sleep Well Beast
6. Slowdive - Slowdive
7. Steven Wilson - To The Bone
8. Elbow - Little Fictions
9. Cigarettes After Sex (self titled)
10. Richard Barbieri - Planets + Persona

11. Brand New - Science Fiction
12. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - Soul of a Woman
13. LCD Soundsystem - American Dream
14. Public Service Broadcasting - Every Valley
15. Kelly Lee Owens - Kelly Lee Owens
16. The Afghan Whigs - In Spades
17. Morrissey - Low In High School
18. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Who Built The Moon
19. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - The Nashville Sound
20. All Them Witches - Sleeping Through The War

 

There is a top 10 of 2017 thread, but guess it doesn't really matter, probably interchangeable ... What are your top 10 albums of 2017?

 

But this thread has been running all year - picking up favourite albums as time progresses. As many of us want to list more than 10 albums anyway, it seems worth continuing separately. As you say though, guess it doesn’t matter either way....

 

Quite a few good one's this year... The Gallagher brothers both put out great records, Buckingham/McVie collaboration is a hit front to back, Kamasi Washington's Harmony of Difference is fantastic....The one that stands out for me is Bob Moses' Days gone By...stellar!
ATB,
Mark

 

...and finally, how could I forget this great new release/return to form from the Mael Brothers in 2017:

Sparks “Hippopotamus”

That’s all folks - here’s to more great music in 2018!

 

Here are a dozen of my favorites for the year.

1) The Irresistible Force - Kira Kira
A fine return from Mixmaster Morris. This is his first studio album since 1998.

2) Gas - Narkopop
I guess this is the year of fine returns. Picked up right where Pop left off.

3) Code Elektro - Triads
Killer retro synth sounds aking to the Stranger Things soundtrack.

Slowdive - Slowdive

Courtney Barnett And Kurt Vile - Lotta Sea Lice

The Regrettes - Feel Your Feelings Fool!

Steve Roach - The Passing

The War On Drugs - A Deeper Understanding

The following are all on the Carpe Sonum label:
Off Land - Afterglow

Architects Of Existence - Architects Of Existence

Gabriel Le Mar - Flashin’ On

Autrax - Rechauffe

 

Henry Threadgill released a new album New Years Eve. I've only listened to a couple of tracks so far and I like what I've heard


Dirt... And More Dirt, by Henry Threadgill 14 or 15 Kestra: Agg

 

Still sifting through 2017 releases here but this was a stunner :



Past careens into present and the sparks fly. Liking this a lot...

D.D.

 

I forgot about Requiem by Goat, I think...

 

Wait, that was 2016 I just discovered...no wonder I forgot.

 

Still doing some catching up on 2017 releases and I've heard three very, very good to great ones today. Two of which may be a lock for my Top 25 of the year.

Wolf Alice - Visions of a Live
I have no idea why I'd ignored this, I think I had them confused with Royal Blood (whom I didn't like much at all) for some odd reason. But this is fantastic stuff. Yes, initially I was drawn in by the sweet spot of '90s alt-rock nostalgia and crunchy guitars, but there is much more under the hood. A terrific album.

Prurient - Rainbow Mirror
An incredible statement. Four discs and 200 minutes of "doom electronics" from Dominick Fenrow (aka Prurient, among many, many other names). It starts out pretty ambient, but builds over the course of the discs to incorporate more industrial soundscapes, vocals and keyboards. At the best times it's like Merzbow slowed down and viewed through a blizzard and fog. An incredible value too - less than $18 for basically a box set on CD. Not sure of the vinyl price, but it's seven slabs and 20 minutes shorter.

 

Those are both good. Have you listened to Aaron Dilloway - The Gag File? You might like it if you like sinister, experimental electronic weirdness.

 

Not yet, but thanks for the reminder. I haven't really kept a close eye on his solo stuff since he left Wolf Eyes, though I've heard a few here and there. The last I remember really liking was Modern Jester. Seeing that new one on Wire's list made me want to check it out and I appreciate the nudge!

 

I've been doing some catch up too. Some of them will possibly be in my top albums

Iona Fortune - Tao of I

I found this looking for gamelan albums on Bandcamp. It's essentially gamelan, electronics and chinese zither. It's a beautiful album. Supposedly it's the first in a series of 8 albums "exploring all of the symbols of the I Ching". I'm looking forward to more.

Tao of I, by Iona Fortune

 

Félicia Atkinson - Hand In Hand

This may be my favorite album of the year and it's hard to describe. Fender Rhodes is one of the featured instruments, but it's played unlike I've heard it played before, or possibly it's just recorded differently, maybe with electronic effects. It also includes synths, percussion, field recordings, recited lyrics, whispered lyrics. While most of the lyrics sound like they're in English, they're hard to follow, because of her accent and multi tracking vocals over each other. The music moves around a lot so it's a great headphone album. The whispered lyrics in particular are great with headphones.

The album is both subtle and intense. A 7 hour version of the album was broadcast at a contemporary art museum in France for a couple of months.


Hand In Hand, by Félicia Atkinson

 

Hear in Now (Mazz Swift, Tomeka Reid, Silvia Bolognesi) - Not Living in Fear

Mazz Swift – violin, voice
Tomeka Reid – cello
Silvia Bolognesi – double bass
-with-
Dee Alexander – vocals (on "Not Living in Fear")

Another hard to classify album. Essentially improvised music for strings. I bought it specifically because I'm a fan of Tomeka Reid.


Not Living in Fear, by Hear in Now (Mazz Swift, Tomeka Reid, Silvia Bolognesi)

 

Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble - Hushers

Contemporary and late 20th century choral music. One of my favorite classical albums this year.

Hushers, by Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble

 

Palehorse/Palerider, any fans of their Burial Songs debut? Top record of the year at Echoes and Dust ... Records of the Year 2017 ... and does sound pretty good. Four long songs that mix doom and shoegaze, very heavy, but melodic. The MP3 I'm listening to at the moment doesn't sound very good, be interested in opinions on other sources...

 

2018 edition out now! A whole bunch of albums are already out this year, so to discuss them, do it here:
Best New Albums of 2018

 

I know I said this was my year-end list, but that U2 album has quickly grown on me, and has easily become my #1. I also bump it up to a five-star album...

 

Love these threads!

 

Raoul Bjorkenheim / eCsTaSy - Doors of Perception

Electric guitar based jazz, sort of in the mold of Terje Rypdal. I discovered Bjorkenheim with the last album he put out on Cuneiform Records and now own some of his back catalog. He's pretty as much an instant buy for me as any artist. I bought this after sampling 10-15 seconds of a few tracks. I wasn't disappointed.

It's a shame Cuneiform Records is going on "sabbatical". I've bought about half of their new releases every year for the past four or five years. At least the back catalog is still going to be available.

Doors of Perception, by Raoul Bjorkenheim / eCsTaSy